Warriors Notes: Green, Porzingis, Horford, Butler, Moody, Dunleavy
In a session with the media on Friday, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. said he’s talked to Draymond Green about remaining with the team, but “the ball is in his court,” writes Nick Friedell of The Athletic. Green holds a $27.7MM player option for next season, with a decision due by June 29. He can pick up the option, use it to negotiate a longer contract, or turn it down and test the free agent market.
“I think we have had discussions where we want him to finish his career (as) a Warrior,” Dunleavy said. “He kind of feels the same way. I would expect him to be back, but it’s his call on that.”
Green, 36, has spent his entire 14-year career with Golden State after being selected with the 35th pick in 2012. He was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2017, has earned four All-Star appearances, and played a vital role on four championship teams.
Coach Steve Kerr also expressed hope that Green will decide to remain with the Warriors.
“The number one thing is, it’s up to him,” Kerr said. “He has the player option, so he has to go through that with his agent, how that plays out. I am committed to coaching him, coaching Steph (Curry), obviously, for as long as they’re here. I look at them as collaborators, and what we’ve built is pretty special.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Dunleavy and Kerr are also optimistic about having Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford on the roster next season, Friedell adds. Porzingis, who was acquired from Atlanta at the trade deadline, is an unrestricted free agent and Dunleavy said negotiations on a new deal will begin soon. Horford signed with Golden State last summer and has a decision to make on a player option worth nearly $6MM. “Those are guys that we definitely would love to have back,” Dunleavy said. “They had some really good performances this year with us. They add an element to our team that we haven’t had in the past.”
- Dunleavy also offered minor medical updates on Jimmy Butler (torn ACL) and Moses Moody (ruptured patellar tendon), per Friedell. He said both players are making progress with rehab, but it’s still too early to say when they might return next season.
- Dunleavy’s rosy view of the team’s current status could either be viewed as “delusional” or “shrewd deception,” contends Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. The GM cited turnovers as a serious problem this season while adding, “I don’t think we came up short because of the talent on the roster. It was injuries and things we could control.” Poole points out that the Warriors were in the midst of a mediocre campaign before it was derailed by injuries to Butler and Curry, and they won just 10 of their last 32 games.
Warriors Notes: Kerr, Dunleavy, Lottery Pick, Roster
Steve Kerr wasn’t happy with the job he did as head coach of the Warriors last season, writes Anthony Slater of ESPN.com. Kerr spoke to the media on Friday for the first time since he decided to return to the organization on a new two-year contract.
“I know I have to be better,” Kerr said. “I didn’t have a great coaching year.”
Still, Kerr made it clear he was excited to be back in role he’s held for the past 12 years, according to Josh Dubow of The Associated Press.
“I still love what I do,” Kerr said Friday. “If I were tired and burned out, then I would not be doing this. But I love my job, I love coaching the Warriors, being in this city, being in the Bay.”
Mike Dunleavy Jr. also took questions on Friday, calling Golden State’s 2025/26 season “pretty underwhelming” after the team went just 37-45 and missed the playoffs, Slater writes. Both Dunleavy and Kerr highlighted cutting down on turnovers as a key improvement area for next season.
“We got a little too loose,” Kerr said. “Literally loose with the ball. But because of our age, because of our injuries, we spent a lot of time resting. So I’ve got to tighten the ship up next year.”
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Dunleavy said the Warriors will consider every option at their disposal with the 11th overall pick in June’s draft, but barring an unexpected blockbuster trade, Slater hears from team sources that Golden State would prefer to add a young player with that selection to bolster an aging roster. Slater’s colleague Marc J. Spears reported similarly this week on NBA Today (Twitter video link). “Totally,” Kerr said when asked if he’d be committed to playing a rookie. “I’ve talked to Mike. I don’t know the draft, but he feels really strongly we’re going to get a good player. It could be a 19-year-old and it could be someone older. … That guy has to play. He’s got to earn it. But we’re committed to the development of our young players.”
- Kerr discussed why he decided to return as coach and what led to the decision, citing a conversation with his wife Margot as playing a critical role. He also talked about his conversations with Dunleavy and owner Joe Lacob regarding the state of the roster and the desire to be competitive while acknowledging the current team isn’t capable of competing for championships. “The idea is let’s see how good we can be next year,” Kerr said, per Dubow. “We think we can still be good. We have to get some guys back from injury. We have to make some moves. I have to do some things. Let’s run it back and see how good we can be. I think we’re all excited about that.”
- Although Kerr suggested the roster needed some tweaks, particularly adding “younger legs” and players who can suit up for both ends of back-to-backs, Dunleavy didn’t sound as though he plans to make major changes this summer, according to Slater. “This isn’t about the roster frankly,” Dunleavy said. “This year, I don’t think we came up short because of the talent on the roster. It was injuries and things we can control. Do we need to get better roster-wise? I think so. But we didn’t get to a point where we played a team that the roster was better than ours.”
Steve Kerr To Remain With Warriors On Two-Year Contract
May 12: The Warriors have issued a press release formally confirming their new deal with Kerr (Twitter link).
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to continue coaching this team,” Kerr said in a statement. “This organization has meant so much to me for the last 12 years – from ownership to our players, our staff and our fans – and it’s an incredible privilege to be a part of something so special. I’m excited to keep competing with this group.”
May 9: Steve Kerr has agreed to a two-year deal to return as Warriors head coach, agents Dan Eveloff and Rick Smith of Priority Sports tell ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). No details on the new contract have been released, but Charania hears that Kerr, who made $17.5MM this season, will continue to be the NBA’s highest-paid coach (Twitter link).
The agreement comes after prolonged negotiations that began shortly after Golden State was eliminated from the play-in tournament on April 17. Kerr expressed uncertainty after that loss about whether he wanted to continue coaching, and Warriors management had several conditions for him to meet before committing to another deal.
In a full story, Charania, Anthony Slater and Ramona Shelburne report that Kerr had multiple meetings with controlling owner Joe Lacob and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. over the past two weeks. Topics of discussion included changes in offensive philosophy, the makeup of the roster, the long-term direction of the franchise and the contract terms necessary for Kerr to keep coaching.
“It was never going to be about money,” a team source told the authors. “We had to make the best basketball decision.”
Kerr’s intentions to return have “generally known” inside the franchise since the beginning of the week, according to Charania, Slater and Shelburne. Team sources told them that the loose ends were finalized Friday night and Saturday morning.
They note that Kerr began signaling in training camp that he might be entering his final season of coaching. He announced in October that he wouldn’t seek a contract extension and planned to let his deal expire before addressing his future. The season didn’t go as planned, as the Warriors dealt with multiple injuries to rotation players and finished as the 10th seed at 37-45.
There was some speculation after the season ended that a coaching change might be best for everyone involved, and the Warriors engaged in some “light information management” to identify possible successors, according to the authors. However, they add that keeping Kerr was always the preference of Lacob, Dunleavy and Stephen Curry.
There was originally pessimism about Kerr’s prospects of remaining with the team, but the outlook seemed to brighten as the process played out. Even so, Lacob said on Wednesday that the situation remained unpredictable.
Part of Kerr’s motivation to return was his desire to continue his partnership with Curry and Draymond Green, which has produced four NBA titles. Kerr said in a recent interview that he doesn’t want to abandon his players and he still enjoys the day-to-day work of being a head coach.
Hired in 2014 as a first-time head coach, Kerr has posted a 604-353 record and captured championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. He won Coach of the Year honors in 2016 and was named one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history in 2o22.
With Kerr secured for the next two years, the Warriors will now have to address the roster to become serious playoff contenders again. Jimmy Butler will miss a large portion of next season while recovering from an ACL tear he suffered in mid-January, and Moses Moody will also require a lengthy recovery period after a tearing a patellar tendon in late March. Additionally, there are concerns about Curry’s ability to stay healthy after he missed a large part of this season due to runner’s knee.
Kerr’s return likely means that Golden State will be aggressive in trying to add stars so the Kerr-Curry-Green era ends on a high note. The Warriors are among the teams expected to pursue Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, and Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James have also been mentioned as possible targets.
Kerr’s Decision Could Lead To Major Changes For Warriors
The Warriors could be embarking on an “organizational reset” if head coach Steve Kerr decides not to return, several team sources tell Ramona Shelburne and Anthony Slater of ESPN. That could involve significant changes to the roster and coaching staff as the team tries to find a new direction following a 37-45 season and an exit in the play-in tournament.
After Friday’s loss at Phoenix, Kerr indicated that he’ll take a week or two before deciding whether to continue coaching. Team sources tell Shelburne that timeline is respectful to Kerr while giving the organization enough time to address its coaching situation before moving on to roster decisions. The sources also state that staff and philosophy questions will be discussed if Kerr returns, as management believes the team has become too reliant on three-point variance and wants to see more diversification in the offense and a greater emphasis on winning the possession battle.
There are lingering concerns about the 13-15 start when the roster was mostly healthy, Shelburne adds. Late-game performance, turnover problems and a sub-.500 record during a season when so many opponents were tanking were also worrisome.
“We didn’t find it earlier in the season,” Kerr said after the team was eliminated. “We were blowing some games we should’ve closed out. I could’ve done a better job. But when Jimmy (Butler) got hurt, it felt like we were finding it.”
Sources tell Shelburne that a wide search is expected for Kerr’s successor if he opts for retirement. College coaches could be in the mix, although Shelburne cites concerns about pairing someone who has no NBA experience with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Butler as they move into the final stages of their careers.
Changes to the coaching staff are expected even if Kerr stays, per Shelburne. Long-time assistant Chris DeMarco has already left to become head coach of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, and sources tell Shelburne that former Pelicans head coach Willie Green could return to the Warriors to work under Kerr again.
When Kerr discusses his future with management, owner Joe Lacob will want him to exhibit a strong desire to handle the day-to-day responsibilities of the job rather than stay out of loyalty to Curry and Green, according to Shelburne’s sources. They add that Lacob will ask Kerr to sign a multiyear contract instead of returning for a brief farewell tour.
According to Shelburne, the Warriors remain committed to general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., despite some outside rumors that he may be a candidate to run Chicago’s front office. She reports that Dunleavy recently signed an extension without any fanfare and has multiple years remaining on the deal.
Shelburne also notes that if Golden State’s roster remains largely intact next season, there will still be the issue of having three players in their late 30s who take up nearly 80% of the payroll. Curry will be eligible for an extension of up to two years this summer and has already talked about wanting to keep playing for multiple seasons. Butler will become extension-eligible in February, which is about when he’s projected to return from an ACL tear. Shelburne hears that he’s expected to focus on getting healthy again and work out his future next summer.
Green has a $27.6MM player option for next season that he’s expected to either exercise or use as the basis to negotiate a longer deal. He was reportedly included in the Warriors’ offer for Giannis Antetokounmpo at the deadline and while there’s a still a chance he could be moved for a star, sources tell Shelburne there is “no desire or mandate” to trade Green.
Shelburne suggests that Golden State could make another offer to the Bucks this summer or try again for Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, who became a target in February after the Antetokounmpo deal fell through. She adds that LeBron James could also be a possibility in free agency if he decides to leave the Lakers.
Korver, Dunleavy, Fields Reportedly Among Bulls’ GM Targets
In addition to confirming the Bulls have been connected to Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports adds a few other names to watch as Chicago begins its front office search.
Hawks assistant general manager Kyle Korver, Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., former Hawks GM Landry Fields, and CAA’s Austin Brown are among the other potential targets for the Bulls in the wake of the firings of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, league sources tell NBC Sports.
As Helin writes, Dunleavy is unlikely to leave his job with the Warriors, so his inclusion could be more of a “wish list play” for Chicago. The 45-year-old spent three seasons with the Bulls near the end of his playing career, which spanned 15 years (from 2002-17).
Korver, a longtime NBA sharpshooter whose playing career ended in 2020, joined the Hawks in the summer of 2022 as the team’s director of player affairs and development and was promoted to assistant GM in January 2023. He’s another ex-Bull, having played two seasons in Chicago.
Fields, 37, played five NBA seasons before eventually transitioning to a front office role. He was Atlanta’s GM for three seasons prior to being let go in last April. The team won 41, 36, and 40 games in his three years at the helm, making a single playoff appearance during that time and not advancing past the first round.
Fields was hired in January to be the new president of league operations for Overtime Elite. OTE is transitioning to become a national prep league, a source tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link), rather than running its own teams and housing players year-round.
Brown, the co-head of CAA’s basketball division, is one of the most powerful agents in the NBA. He was linked to the Hawks’ front office search last May, and his client list includes Donovan Mitchell, Cooper Flagg, Trae Young, Jaren Jackson Jr., OG Anunoby, and many other noteworthy current and former players, per RealGM.
Warriors GM Dunleavy Talks Curry, Kerr, Kuminga, Porzingis
If Milwaukee had been willing to make a deal at last month’s trade deadline, the Warriors likely would’ve given up several of their future first-round picks – and swaps – to acquire star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, speaking to Tim Kawakami on his TK Show podcast (Spotify link) on Tuesday, general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. pointed to the health issues currently afflicting his top players as an example of why surrendering significant future draft capital carries significant risk.
“I think going back to the Jimmy (Butler) trade last year, that’s why we loved the trade so much, because we’re getting a great player and we’re only giving up that year’s pick. There’s nothing out in the future,” Dunleavy said, according to Kawakami. “…I think we’re always being disciplined about using those picks, considering them in trades, things like that. But when you’re put in a situation like this, where your best players are out and you’re struggling to win games, I think you appreciate having that draft capital moving forward.”
In addition to missing Butler (torn ACL) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness), the Warriors are currently playing without their top scorer, Stephen Curry, who has been out since January 30 due to a knee issue. Asked by Kawakami if there’s any possibility that Curry gets shut down for the rest of the season, Dunleavy didn’t rule it out, but said it would be “very surprising” if that happens.
“I’m not a doctor and things can go a certain way,” he said. “I don’t want the headline to be, ‘Steph may be done for the year’ because I’m not ruling it out. But just because he’s not playing right now, I just have to acknowledge that, ‘Yeah, sure, there’s a chance.’ But we don’t expect that.”
Here are a few more of Dunleavy’s most notable quotes from his appearance on The TK Show:
On whether he expects Steve Kerr to be the Warriors’ head coach in 2026/27:
“I don’t see why not. I think Steve’s mentioned wanting to get to the end of the season and figure it out. I think things, for him, are going well. We’ll figure all that out when it comes. I think it’s been interesting, like the focus for us internally between myself, (team owner) Joe (Lacob), the players, Steve, has really been on like getting this thing right the rest of the season. So we haven’t put a whole bunch of thought into it.
“But you know, obviously, on a personal level, (I) love having Steve here. Yeah, I would project that he’s our coach next year. But again, we’re going down to absolute certainties, and a lot of it’s in his court, so we’ll have to see.”
On whether the Warriors seriously considered hanging onto Jonathan Kuminga through last month’s trade deadline:
“I think you guys know, it’s been put out there about (Kuminga’s) trade demand, and I think any time a player wants that, I want to try to accommodate. You want people who want to be here. And for that reason, we felt it was the right time to move on. I think JK’s happy about it, I think we’re in the right spot for it, it was just kind of the right thing to do at the time.”
On whether he’s satisfied with the information-gathering process that led to the Warriors acquiring Porzingis (who has been limited to a single outing since the trade due to health issues):
“That’s a great question, it’s a fair question. I think it’s really, really complicated. This is a unique situation. I’d say from our end, I feel good about, from the information we had, I feel good about our evaluation of what that was on the medical side. And for that reason, that’s why we made the trade.”
More Details On Warriors’ Split With Jonathan Kuminga
In a thoroughly reported, in-depth story for ESPN.com, Anthony Slater takes a last look at the four-and-a-half year relationship between Jonathan Kuminga and the Warriors, examining how the relationship between the two sides deteriorated and devolved into a series of “petty” gripes and grievances in its final months.
While it would be an oversimplification to say that Kuminga’s time in Golden State was doomed from the start, the decision to draft him with the seventh overall pick in 2021 instead of Franz Wagner became a “central tension point” throughout the organization, Slater writes.
With Steve Kerr preparing Team USA for the Olympics during the summer of 2021 and not overly involved in the pre-draft process, team sources tell ESPN that several members of Golden State’s coaching staff attended Wagner’s workout with the Warriors and came away feeling as if the eventual Magic forward would fit better into Kerr’s system than Kuminga would.
However, that wasn’t the consensus among the team’s decision-makers. Team owner Joe Lacob known to be among those who preferred Kuminga, according to Slater, who says the Kuminga pick became a “signature example” of Lacob’s involvement in personnel moves during the post-Kevin Durant years.
Some team sources who spoke to ESPN suggested that Lacob’s attachment to Kuminga in subsequent years – and his reluctance to include him in trade packages – was connected to his desire to be proven right about his initial belief in the forward. Others insist the Warriors’ decision not to trade Kuminga until last week was about much more than just Lacob’s preferences.
“Joe gets outsized blame,” one source told Slater. “Complex situation. There was a ton of indecision (from several people).”
Slater’s report putting a bow on the Kuminga era in Golden State is worth reading in full if you’re a Warriors fan. Here are a few more highlights:
- Kuminga and his agent Aaron Turner believed Kerr and the Warriors were constantly taking subtle “pokes” at the forward in media sessions, according to Slater. For example, after the 23-year-old received his first DNP-CD of the season in December, Kerr explained the move by saying, “Happens to everyone in the league, other than the stars.” Kuminga, who has long believed he can be a star if given the opportunity, viewed the remark as an unnecessary reminder that Kerr didn’t necessarily share that belief. “That’s the s–t I’m talking about,” Kuminga said. “Why’s he gotta say that?”
- Kerr frequently cited high-level role players like Shawn Marion and Aaron Gordon as comparables for Kuminga, while the forward believed he was better suited for more a featured offensive role and was frustrated that the team didn’t trust him and give him more on-ball opportunities. According to Slater, Kerr and general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. pointed to Kuminga’s lower efficiency numbers in isolation and mid-range situations and accused Kuminga’s camp of having him work on “the wrong things” away from the team facility.
- During Kuminga’s long stretch of DNP-CDs in December and January of this season, he began packing up his belongings at his Bay Area home in preparation for a trade and also declined four opportunities to take the court, sources tell ESPN. As Slater explains, the Warriors asked Kuminga to check in during three garbage-time situations and wanted him to play in a January 2 game vs. Oklahoma City when Golden State was missing several regulars.
- Members of the Warriors’ coaching staff and front office viewed Kuminga’s refusal to play in those situations as a sign that he’d quit on the team, per Slater. Kuminga, in turn, believed the team had already quit on him and regarded the request for him to play in a nationally televised game against the defending champs after a month of inactivity as “a recipe to shame him.”
- While some Warriors players “expressed their annoyances” about the Kuminga saga, the 23-year-old considered Jimmy Butler a true mentor. Sources tell ESPN that Butler expressed a belief that there was a double standard within the organization in the way Kuminga was treated relative to other players.
Warriors Rumors: Porzingis, Murphy, JJJ, Green, Kerr
Kristaps Porzingis is exactly the type of player the Warriors have wanted to add to their frontcourt for years, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, who says Golden State views the big man as a no-risk, potentially high-reward addition. Still, sending Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for Porzingis was something of a fall-back option for the Warriors, who pursued Giannis Antetokounmpo and several other impact players leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline.
The Warriors’ interest in Trey Murphy III has been well chronicled, and Siegel suggests Golden State was prepared to offer Kuminga, an unprotected 2026 first-round pick, and a lightly protected 2028 first-rounder for the Pelicans wing. However, sources tell ClutchPoints that New Orleans had set an asking price of at least three first-round picks for Murphy and wasn’t enthusiastic about Kuminga as a long-term building block.
The Warriors also spoke to the Grizzlies about Jaren Jackson Jr., Siegel confirms, and would’ve done a package that included Kuminga, Hield, two first-round picks, and “some sort of swap.” But Siegel hears that Golden State was reluctant to include Moses Moody or far-off draft picks which Memphis would’ve valued more highly (since they’d likely land after Stephen Curry‘s retirement), so Utah was able to beat Golden State’s package for Jackson.
While Porzingis may not have been atop the Warriors’ wish list, the team is looking forward to seeing what he’ll bring to the table and there’s optimism that he’ll be ready to play in the first game after the All-Star break, head coach Steve Kerr confirmed today (Twitter link via Nick Friedell of The Athletic). Kerr told reporters that Porzingis did some three-on-three work on Tuesday and will play in short bursts once he’s activated.
For his part, Porzingis – who has been limited to 17 outings this season for injury/illness reasons – is optimistic about what the rest of the season holds for him and the Warriors.
“I think it’s a great, great opportunity to turn a new page,” Porziņgis said over the weekend, per Friedell. “From what I’ve seen, and the conversations I’ve had so far with the medical staff here, and the people that work here, I have to say I’m very surprised and very optimistic. I’m in really, really good hands, if not some of the best hands, and I think that will also add to what I already have in my mind. So, I look forward to really having a surprisingly good post All-Star break.”
We have more on the Warriors:
- Interestingly, during his post-deadline media session, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. strongly pushed back against the idea that the team discussed Draymond Green in trade talks. “His name was not in conversations other than the ones where teams called me to ask about him,” Dunleavy said, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “The idea that he ‘stayed with the Warriors past the deadline’ was greatly exaggerated. It was never a possibility of him not being here or remotely close.” Multiple reporters – and Green himself – have suggested that the longtime Warrior would’ve almost certainly been included in a package for Antetokounmpo, so perhaps Dunleavy’s comments reflect a belief that the Giannis scenario never gained any traction.
- Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area passes along several more of Dunleavy’s remarks from Saturday’s media session, including the GM’s assertion that the Warriors remain well positioned to trade for an impact player going forward. “We’ve got the goods to make deals,” Dunleavy said. “I think the only way we wouldn’t be in the mix is if we gave out assets, young players, all the things you need to get a great player. We still have all that. I think that’s one of the reasons the KP trade is really good for us, similar to Jimmy last year. We don’t feel like we gave up a ton. We still have the kind of firepower to move forward and do more deals.”
- Checking in on Kerr’s future in Golden State, Siegel reports that the Warriors would like to keep the veteran head coach in his role as long as he wants and that the hope has always been that he and Curry will retire together. While a January report indicated that Kerr’s assistants have been operating as if 2025/26 will be his last year, Siegel doesn’t get the sense that the coaching staff is expecting that outcome.
- Hield was one of Green’s “favorite teammates of all time” and “left a mark” on the franchise, the former Defensive Player of the Year said on Saturday’s episode of The Draymond Green Show (hat tip to Will Simonds of NBC Sports Bay Area). “To see him go, you feel the gap, you feel the hole, you feel it,” Green said. “It’s like I said before, it’s the s–ttiest part of the business.”
Warriors Notes: Green, Curry, Porzingis, Horford
Draymond Green had a conversation with Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. about potentially being traded to Milwaukee as part of a Giannis Antetokounmpo deal, writes Angelina Martin of NBC Sports Bay Area. Green revealed Saturday on his podcast that Dunleavy sought his input on a couple of trades he was considering and was straightforward about the possibility that Green could wind up with the Bucks.
“And we talked for quite a while, and then he’s like, ‘And by the way, on the honest front, obviously, we spoke about Giannis,'” Green relayed. “‘We talked about what picks we’d send them. We haven’t talked about, really, the players that would go into the deal, but obviously, if we were to do a deal with Giannis, you or Jimmy (Butler) would have to be in the trade just to make it work.'”
Green has heard his name in rumors before, but said he felt like he might actually get traded this time. He held a long session with reporters after Tuesday’s game, just in case it was his final appearance in a Warriors uniform.
Green added that the talk with Dunleavy left him with a lot of questions.
“Future, uncertain, getting traded to Milwaukee,” he said. “If I’m getting traded to Milwaukee, am I staying in Milwaukee? If I’m not staying in Milwaukee, where am I going? If I’m only going there for half a season, is my family coming? What the hell is going on?”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Stephen Curry will miss his third straight game tonight with a knee injury, and coach Steve Kerr suggested that he might be held out through the All-Star break, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link). Kerr said Curry is doubtful for Monday’s home contest with Memphis. The team’s final game before the break will be Wednesday against San Antonio.
- Kristaps Porzingis, who was acquired from Atlanta on Thursday, will continue working out in San Francisco with a goal of debuting when the All-Star break ends, Slater adds (Twitter link). Porzingis is dealing with an Achilles issue and hasn’t played since January 7. He was surprised to be traded to Golden State, but called it “a great opportunity to turn a new page,” per Nick Friedell of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- In an interview with Friedell, Al Horford admits there was a lot of “tension” affecting the team in the days leading up to the trade deadline. “I feel like our guys, everybody tried to be professional and good, but I know that gets thrown around a lot, be professional and good, but there’s a human aspect to it, that it’s always difficult to deal with,” Horford said. “On some teams, you deal with it more than others, and this team we were all kind of up in the air. So it was very stressful here the last few days.”
Warriors Notes: Horford, Kuminga, Melton, Dunleavy
Now that his contract with the Warriors is finally official, Al Horford was able to shed some light on his free agency decision during an introductory news conference on Wednesday, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Horford told reporters that he didn’t feel ready to retire and that Golden State seemed like the obvious place to go if he had to find a new team.
“It’s a great opportunity to compete and to win at a high level,” he said. “When I think about the Warriors, I think about (Stephen Curry) and Draymond (Green) and Steve Kerr and seeing Jimmy Butler here. What he did in that second half of the season last year after the trade and how they’re playing. It wasn’t an easy decision for me to leave Boston, but if there was the place, that was this one, and it happened and I happened to give this opportunity, so I jumped at it.”
When free agency began at the end of June, Horford never imagined that his next contract wouldn’t be signed until October. He reportedly committed to the Warriors early on, but nothing could be completed until the team resolved its standoff with restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga.
“It was definitely a very odd offseason, just kind of waiting and waiting and seeing what’s going to happen, seeing what’s going to take place,” Horford said. “So just my whole focus was on my training and preparing myself and making sure that I was in the best place for when the season started.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
- Kerr isn’t concerned that Kuminga might create a distraction in the locker room after having to accept a team option in his new two-year contract, per Nick Friedell of The Athletic. Kerr said he contacted Kuminga “quite a bit” during the summer, and they’ll have a conversation about how things worked out when he reports to camp. “I’ve known JK for four years now,” Kerr said. “He’s not that guy to come in and tear a team down.”
- De’Anthony Melton isn’t upset that the Warriors traded him to Brooklyn last December after he suffered an ACL tear early in the season, relays Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter video link). “Business is business,” he said. “I probably would have traded myself too.” Melton added that he decided to return because he enjoyed his brief experience with the team and he likes the medical staff.
- It took a long time to assemble, but general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. is gleeful about his current roster, notes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. “We’ve got everything signed, sealed, delivered roster-wise and (we’re) pretty excited about this group, about this season,” he said. “(We) feel like we made some really good additions and obviously have some really good key returning players as well as some young guys that we think will be able to take a step. The main thing here is the team we put together, we feel like will be in the mix this season.”